Mortgage Approvals are Up!! |
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15th May 2009
The Council of Mortgage Lenders report that Mortgage Approvals in March were up by nearly 30% on the previous month which reflects the business levels recorded by Bushells offices.
A total of 31,000 loans were approved for homebuyers during the month, compared with 24,000 in February. However, the CML said the figure was still 33% down on March last year and the value of those loans was 43% down at £4bn.
The number of first-time buyers taking out loans was up by 36% at 12,500 and these buyers accounted for their largest share of the market since April 2005 with 40% of approvals.
Despite this, the absolute number of first-time buyers remains low and is well down on the 17,800 who took out mortgages in March last year.
The CML said falling interest rates and house prices had reduced the cost of repaying a mortgage to its lowest level since 2004, with first-time buyers using just 15.1% of their income to meet their monthly payments.
However, borrowers who were unable to raise a substantial deposit still faced problems finding a lender willing to offer them a mortgage.
based upon the record April in Bushells offices, it will be very interesting to see how approvals increase over the coming months.
